Stories 21-30

Here’s Story Number 21

Phileas has found that Egypt is a very different place to be. To transport themselves they don’t only use cars or buses, but they also use animals like camels and elephants. Here is a story about an elephant named Omar who is searching for some peanuts to eat. It is called

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. I need a whiff.

"Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. I need a whiff," Omar, the elephant, chanted as he walked through the tall grass, his long trunk dangling down, sniffing the ground. Omar loved to eat peanuts, but they grew under the ground, so he had to sniff them out
 

Some of the other animals nearby thought Omar looked awfully silly. Sharif, the rhinoceros, started laughing when Omar walked by him. Omar didnt even see Sharif. He was too busy sniffing. Sharif laughed even harder when he heard him chant, "Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. I need a whiff." He dropped his heavy body to the ground and rolled around laughing hard.

Rashid, the giraffe, saw Omar coming. His neck was so long that he could see things that were a long distance away. "What is that silly elephant doing?" he said outloud to himself as he reached for a few leaves from a tree he was standing next to.

"It looks like hes sniffing the ground." Rashid started laughing. The closer Omar got, the harder Rashid laughed. "Silly elephant," he giggled.

When Rashid heard Omar chanting and sniffing, he laughed even harder. His long neck bobbed up and down as he heard, "Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. I need a whiff." Omar didnt even notice Rashid as he was too busy sniffing for peanuts.

Mohammed, the lion cub was playing with his brother, Ashir. They were wrestling about in the bushes when they heard Omar chanting. "Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. I need a whiff." They stopped and sat up, their little cub ears standing straight up in the air.

"What is Omar doing?" Mohammed asked.

"It looks like hes sniffing the ground," Ashir replied. "But whats he singing?" the curious cub wondered.

They ran up closer to Omar and followed him from a safe distance. "He is sniffing the ground. Why do you think hes doing that?" Mohammed asked.

"I dont know," Ashir answered, then pounced on his brother, tugging at the nape of his neck where one day a thick mane would grow. Losing interest in Omar, the two continued their wrestling and fighting games.

Omar hadnt even noticed the two lion cubs. Hed been too busy sniffing for peanuts. As he walked past Fatima, the flamingo, he began to sniff the faintest aroma of peanuts. "Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. I need a whiff," he mumbled.

Fatima stopped preening her feathers and watched Omar. She started chuckling. It wasnt every day that you saw a huge gray elephant walking by sniffing the ground. The more she watched, the more she laughed. She laughed so hard that one of her pink feathers flew up into the air and floated slowly down onto the grass by her long, spindly legs.

Omar didnt even notice Fatima. He was too busy sniffing for the peanuts. He began to get excited. He knew there were peanuts nearby. He could smell them. He began to run. His long ivory tusks jutted out from the side of his face. His trunk-like legs thudded the ground as he ran. His huge flapping ears bounced up and down against his back. Suddenly he stopped. His trunk sniffed the ground over and over again. "Peanuts!" he cried out. He used his sharp tusks to dig the ground up. He tugged the green plant on top and pulled it with his trunk. Soon the roots came free. Attached to them were clusters of peanuts in their shells. "Yes! Peanuts!" he cried with delight.

Omar picked all the peanuts off with his trunk and gobbled them down. They were delicious. He was happy. It didnt matter that Sharif, the rhino had laughed, or that Fatima, the flamingo had laughed, or Rashid, the giraffe, or Mohammed and Ashir, the two lion cubs, had laughed. It didnt matter because he had his peanuts, and they were delicious.

Here's Story Number 22

The origins of the Snake Charmer

The tale goes although it is just a tale, that there was once a young man who lived in the desert in a small community of farmers. This man was poor but humble and treated the community with respect. The community each helped one another to gain food and water, living in peace with their environment. However there was one thing that they could not control, their one threat, the snake. Every day the people worshiped the Snake God, praying to keep snakes them away from the community and the livestock, ensuring that they would not be bitten. As the community was so far from civilization, if someone was bitten by a snake, then they would often have to travel for a long distance to seek medicine.  

One day, after months of peace with the snake, a farmer spotted one whilst herding his goats. A large cobra had risen up and struck a goat without warning and now the village was in great danger. The cobra slithered through the village, taking refuge in a nearby house. The young man who had witnessed the attacked saw the snake making it's way into the village and knew something must be done. This attack was most peculiar as the Snake God had been worshiped by all on a daily basis. 

The snake had taken refuge inside a wicker basket.  In order for the village to be safe, the snake had to be removed from it's hiding place.  Knowing this, the young man started to sing to the Snake God, observing the snake's actions. Nothing happened. The village noticed the young man's efforts and gathered around him. He then started to sing and tap his feet on the floor but still nothing happened. He then saw his flute lying nearby and grabbed it, starting to blow into this instrument.  Upon that, something remarkable happened, the snake started to rise up and down through the wicker basket, as though it was dancing to the sound of the flute. Amazed, the townspeople gathered around in awe, some cheered and others joined in. Playing the flute, the man managed to control the snake to drive it far, far away from the village. 

Many in the village praised the young man's efforts and others joined him in sending the snake away.  From that day forward, the village knew how to control the snake and if any ever came close to the village, the young man would grab his flute and start to play.  And today, even today, if you go to Egypt, you may see a snake charmer, playing his flute as the snake dances in and out of a wicker basket. 

Here's Story Number 23

Phileas has now boarded the ship that will take him from Egypt all the way across the Red Sea to Yemen, but while Phileas began his adventure across the Red Sea he started to think about all the adventures that might go on under the sea. So Phileas started to think, who on this ship would know the most about the sea. Then it suddenly came to him...the Captain! So Phileas searched all around the ship in search for the Captain, and once he found him he asked

"Captain, please could you tell me about all the adventures that happen under the sea?"

"Phileas I am afraid there is not enough time to tell you them all" replied the Captain

"Ok" said Phileas "Would you be able to tell me at least one?"

"That I can do" answered the Captain "Make yourself comfortable and I shall begin"

"Ready" said Phileas eagerly

"Ok then I shall being"

"Once upon a time in an underwater kingdom of the deep blue sea there lived a little mermaid princess named Lily. Lily was the youngest of three mermaid sisters. At 15, Lily was just getting old enough to swim out of the Merman Palace by herself. She had never been around in the ocean all by herself before and was eager to go off on an adventure!

The day after her 15th birthday, Lily decided to go with her dolphin friend Cory out on their little adventure. Lily had been waiting for Cory to show up all morning and finally retrieved Cory from his sleep. Cory, who also lived at the Palace, had slept until noon, but he was now ready to go on their adventure under the sea. So Lily and Cory carefully swam past the crusty crab guards outside the palace doors. Lily was a little afraid still of going anywhere on her own, so she was happy that she had Cory to go with her.

The two of them swam very fast at first, past ocean beds of seaweed and little sea horses and leafy sea dragons drifting along in the ocean currents. They saw sea anemones and small fish swimming to and fro, of all the bright colors of the rainbow. They escaped from a long-armed octopus’ tentacles as they swam past him quickly. Lily liked the strange floating white jellyfish and stopped to have a good look at one. But she dared not look too closely, for the jellyfish had a stinger that could sting her. She also liked the big sea turtles swimming past.

“What do you think he is going to do?” Said Cory all of a sudden, pointing towards the big dark grouper hovering among the seaweed. “I hope he doesn’t want to take a bite out of us.”

“Certainly not,’ laughed Lily. “He isn’t anywhere near as big as a shark. He’s not going to eat us, but he looks scary, doesn’t he?”

“Well, just to be safe, let’s get going,” suggested Cory, and the two of them swam fast away from that part of the ocean.

In a few minutes, Lily and Cory swam past a coral reef and towards a bit of dry land. There were mussels and clams strewn along the ocean floor towards the shore. The two of them carefully crawled up onto the beach of an island. A seal and her pup were baskin gon the beach not far off.

“Feel that heat on your face,” laughed Cory, who still had his back fins in the water. But Lily had crawled all the way onto the shore.

“Yes, it’s a very bright sun in the sky, such as I have only heard of in stories my grandmother told me about.”

“Let’s go back under the water,” said Cory, who was fearful of dry land and anything they might encounter there. But Lily looked about, noticing the trees far ahead of her on the horizon and wondering what they were. Birds called in the air above her head, and a few wild sandpipers scuttled past her on the beach, making little noises as they ran past.

“It’s beautiful up here,” remarked Lily, “but I suppose that we should go back towards home.”

“Yes, let’s go,” agreed Cory, and the two of them made their way back under the water.

As they swam, they ran across an injured fish that was leaving a trail of blood.

“Help me,” gurgled the big orange-colored fish who was an orange roughy. “I have been speared by a fisherman and only just escaped.”

“We had better do something to help him,” said Lily. “We can take him back to the merman palace and have him taken care of.”

“But we will only attract sharks!” protested Cory. “The blood trail this big fish is leaving will attract sharks towards us, and we could all be eaten.”

“We must take the chance,” said Lily. “We can’t just leave him here to die.”

“All right,” said Cory. We’ll take turns pushing him along faster and hope we make it home again soon.”

And with that, the little mermaid Lily and her dolphin friend Cory pushed the big orange roughy fish back towards the Merman Palace. At one point, Lily and Cory heard a strange noise of a bunch of bigger fish following them, who were trying to get to the injured fish to eat him! So Lily and Cory sprinted away quickly, pushing the little injured orange roughy to safety.

They were all relieved when at last they had sight of the Merman Palace.

“We have made it!” cried Cory in happiness.

With that, Lily took the injured orange roughy fish to the Palace Nurse, a kindly old dolphin who cared for all injured creatures at the Palace.

“Thank you, Princess Lily,” she said. “He will live thanks to your kindness.”

“Cory the dolphin helped me. We barely escaped from a group of bigger fish,” she said.

“Then he is also a hero. Take care, Lily.”

The nest day, Lily and Cory decided to sleep in. But you can be assured that they were off on another deep sea adventure before too much longer.

The End"

"That was a wonderful story, Thank you" said Phileas

"Your welcome" replied the Captain

Phileas waved goodbye to the Captain as he headed off to his cabin to sleep and as he laid in bed he began to think of all the adventures he could have if he lived under the sea. 

What adventures would you have?

Here's Story Number 24

Phileas is now in Yemen, which is found in Arabia, he was fascinated by this most wonderful place he could not wait to find out all he could about this land. While Phileas is exploring Yemen he has left you with this wonderful Arabian folk-tale...

THE ADVENTURES OF ALADDIN

Once upon a time . . . a widow had an only son whose name was Aladdin. They were very poor and lived from hand to mouth, though Aladdin did what he could to earn some pennies, by picking bananas in faraway places.

One day, as he was looking for wild figs in a grove some way from the town, Aladdin met a mysterious stranger. This smartly dressed dark-eyed man with a trim black beard and a splendid sapphire in his turban, asked Aladdin an unusual question:

"Come here, boy," he ordered. "How would you like to earn a silver penny?"

"A silver penny!" exclaimed Aladdin. "Sir, I'd do anything for that kind of payment."

"I'm not going to ask you to do much. Just go down that manhole. I'm much too big to squeeze through myself. If you do as I ask, you'll have your reward." The stranger helped Aladdin lift the manhole cover, for it was very heavy. Slim and agile as he was, the boy easily went down. His feet touched stone and he carefully made his way down some steps . . . and found himself in a large chamber. It seemed to sparkle, though dimly lit by the flickering light of an old oil lamp. When Aladdin's eyes became used to the gloom, he saw a wonderful sight: trees dripping with glittering jewels, pots of gold and caskets full of priceless gems. Thousands of precious objects lay scattered about. It was a treasure trove! Unable to believe his eyes, Aladdin was standing dazed when he heard a shout behind him.

"The lamp! Put out the flame and bring me the lamp!" Surprised and suspicious, for why should the stranger, out of all such a treasure want only an old lamp, Aladdin wondered. Perhaps he was a wizard. He decided to be on his guard. Picking up the lamp, he retraced his steps up to the entrance.

"Give me the lamp," urged the wizard impatiently. "Hand it over," he began to shout, thrusting out his arm to grab it, but Aladdin cautiously drew back.

"Let me out first . . ."

"Too bad for you," snapped the stranger, slamming down the manhole cover, never noticing that, as he did so, a ring slid off his finger. A terrified Aladdin was left in pitch darkness, wondering what the wizard would do next. Then he trod on the ring. Aimlessly putting it on his finger, he twisted it round and round. Suddenly the room was flooded with a rosy light and a great genie with clasped hands appeared on a cloud.

"At your command, sire," said the genie.

Now astounded, Aladdin could only stammer:

"I want to go home!" In a flash he was back in his own home, though the door was tightly shut.

"How did you get in?" called his mother from the kitchen stove, the minute she set eyes on him. Excitedly, her son told her of his adventures.

"Where's the silver coin?" his mother asked. Aladdin clapped a hand to his brow. For all he had brought home was the old oil lamp "Oh, mother! I'm so sorry. This is all I've got."

"Well, let's hope it works. It's so dirty . . ." and the widow began to rub the lamp.

Suddenly out shot another genie, in a cloud of smoke.

"You've set me free, after centuries! I was a prisoner in the lamp, waiting to be freed by someone rubbing it. Now, I'm your obedient servant. Tell me your wishes." And the genie bowed respectfully, awaiting Aladdin's orders. The boy and his mother gaped wordlessly at this incredible apparition, then the genie said with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"I'm here at your command. Tell me what you want. Anything you like!" Aladdin gulped, then said:

"Bring us . . . bring . . ." His mother not having yet begun to cook the dinner, went on to say: ". . . a lovely big meal."

From that day on, the widow and her son had everything they could wish for: food, clothes and a fine home, for the genie of the lamp granted them everything they asked him. Aladdin grew into a tall handsome young man and his mother felt that he ought to find himself a wife, sooner or later.

One day, as he left the market, Aladdin happened to see the Sultan's daughter Halima in her sedan chair being carried through the streets. He only caught a fleeting glimpse of the princess, but it was enough for him to want to marry her. Aladdin told his mother and she quickly said:

"I'll ask the Sultan for his daughter's hand. He'll never be able to refuse. Wait and see!"

And indeed, the Sultan was easily persuaded by a casket full of big diamonds to admit the widow to the palace. However, when he learned why she had come, he told the widow that her son must bring proof of his power and riches. This was mostly the Chamberlain's idea, for he himself was eager to marry the beautiful black-eyed Sultan's daughter.

"If Aladdin wants to marry Halima,' said the Sultan, "he must send me forty slaves tomorrow.Every slave must bring a box of precious stones. And forty Arab warriors must escort the treasure."

Aladdin's mother went sadly home. The genie of the magic lamp had already worked wonders, but nothing like this. Aladdin however,when he heard the news, was not at all dismayed. He picked up the lamp, rubbed it harder than ever and told the genie what he required. The genie simply clapped his hands three times. Forty slaves magically appeared, carrying the gemstones, together with their escort of forty Arab warriors. When he saw all this the next day, the Sultan was taken aback. He never imagined such wealth could exist. Just as he was about to accept Aladdin as his daughter's bridegroom, the envious Chamberlain broke in with a question.

"Where will they live?" he asked. The Sultan pondered for a moment, then allowing greed to get the better of him, he told Aladdin to build a great, splendid palace for Halima. Aladdin went straight home and, in what was once a wilderness, the genie built him a palace. The last obstacle had been overcome. The wedding took place with great celebrations and the Sultan was especially happy at finding such a rich and powerful son-in-law.

News of Aladdin's sudden fortune and wealth spread like wildfire, until.... one day, a strange merchant stopped beneath the palace window.

"Old lamps for new," he called to the princess, standing on the balcony. Now, Aladdin had always kept his secret to himself. Only his mother knew it and she had never told a soul. Halima, alas, had been kept in the dark. And so, now, wanting to give Aladdin a surprise as well as make a good bargain, she fetched the old oil lamp she had seen Aladdin tuck away, and gave it to the merchant in exchange for a new one. The merchant quickly began to rub it . . . and the genie was now at the service of the wizard who had got his magic lamp back.

In a second he whisked away all Aladdin's possessions and magically sent the palace and the princess to an unknown land. Aladdin and the Sultan were at their wits' end. Nobody knew what had happened. Only Aladdin knew it had something to do with the magic lamp. But as he wept over the lost genie of the lamp, he remembered the genie of the ring from the wizard's finger. Slipping the ring on his finger, Aladdin twisted it round and round.

"Take me to the place where the wizard has hidden my wife," he ordered the genie. In a flash, he found himself inside his own palace, and peeping from behind a curtain, he saw the wizard and the princess, now his servant.

"Psst! Psst!" hissed Aladdin.

"Aladdin! It's you . . .!"

"Ssh. Don't let him hear you. Take this powder and put it into his tea. Trust me." The powder quickly took effect and the wizard fell into a deep sleep. Aladdin hunted for the lamp high and low, but it was nowhere to be seen. But it had to be there. How, otherwise, had the wizard moved the palace? As Aladdin gazed at his sleeping enemy, he thought of peering underneath the pillow. "The lamp! At last," sighed Aladdin, hastily rubbing it.

"Welcome back, Master!" exclaimed the genie. "Why did you leave me at another's service for so long?"

"Welcome," replied Aladdin. "I'm glad to see you again. I've certainly missed you! It's just as well I have you by me again."

"At your command," smiled the genie.

"First, put this wicked wizard in chains and take him far away where he'll never be found again." The genie grinned with pleasure, nodded his head, and the wizard vanished. Halima clutched Aladdin in fear:

"What's going on? Who is that genie?"

"Don't worry, everything is all right," Aladdin reassured her, as he told his wife the whole story of how he had met the wizard and found the magic lamp that had enabled him to marry her. Everything went back to normal and the happy pair hugged each other tenderly.

"Can we return to our own kingdom?" the princess asked timidly, thinking of her father, so far away. Aladdin glanced at her with a smile.

"The magic that brought you here will take you back, but with me at your side, forever."

The Sultan was almost ill with worry. His daughter had disappeared along with the palace, and then his son-in-law had vanished too. Nobody knew where they were, not even the wise men hastily called to the palace to divine what had happened. The jealous Chamberlain kept on repeating:

"I told you Aladdin's fortune couldn't last."

Everyone had lost all hope of ever seeing the missing pair again, when far away, Aladdin rubbed the magic lamp and said to the genie,

"Take my wife, myself and the palace back to our own land, as fast as you can."

"In a flash, Sire," replied the genie. At the snap of a finger, the palace rose into the air and sped over the Sultan's kingdom, above the heads of his astonished subjects. It gently floated down to earth and landed on its old site. Aladdin and Halima rushed to embrace the Sultan.

To this very day, in that distant country, you can still admire the traces of an ancient palace which folk call the palace that came from the skies.

Here's Story Number 25

This is the story of The Merchant and The Genie

There was once upon a time a very rich merchant, who was rich not only in money but also in land and merchandise. This merchant had to take a journey which would require him to pass through the desert heat to reach his destination. Taking his horse, the merchant rode through the desert, taking with him some food for the journey, so that he could survive.  He arrived at his destination quickly and without delay, began to make his return.
He was weary and came across some trees and a fountain of fresh water. 

Tying his horse to one of the trees, the man sat down in the shade and ate the food that he had brought with him on his journey.After his food, the man washed his hands and face in the fresh water. 

To the merchant's surprise, after washing his face he saw a large Genie coming towards him in rage, shouting.
'STAND UP!' The genie shouted, 'For you have killed my Son and I must therefore kill you!'
The merchant, stunned by the genie's appearance and with no knowledge of the subject of the Genie's wrath pleaded with him.
'Please sir, I have no idea what you are talking about, I do not know your son, I simply sat down here to eat my food and rest from the blazing sun!' He said.
'Ah but did you not eat dates?' The Genie questioned. 'And did those dates not have stones which you threw out behind you?' One of those stones hit my son in the eye and killed him! so you are to blame!'
The man, bewildered, begged the Genie to understand that this was a mistake, he had not meant to throw a stone and kill his son.
'Please, don't kill me now.' The man begged. 'Let me go home to my Wife and Child first, to say goodbye? Then I will return to you so you can finish the deed.'
'But what if you don't return?' The Genie questioned. 
'I shall, I promise I shall return in a year!' The man replied confidently. With that, the Genie disappeared.

The man rode as quickly as he could home to his wife and child.  Upset, he told them the story and started to make the most of his final year.  He paid off his debts, gave to charity and bought everything he could for his wife and child. BUT as time does fly, time flew by and soon a year passed by. 

The merchant, arriving back at the trees encountered an old man with a hind. The old man asked the merchant why he was sitting in such a dangerous place, and he told the man his story. Astonished, the old man stayed with the merchant to witness his meeting with the Genie. Soon, more men arrived, heard the story and stayed with the merchant until finally...
THE GENIE ARRIVED! 
'I am here to kill you!' The genie screamed and upon that, one of the old men threw himself at the Genie's feet.
'I have a story of that of the hind I have with me, if I tell you it and you enjoy it, then will you let the merchant off?' The old man asked.
After pondering this thought for a while the Genie replied.
'Very well, I agree to this...'

THE END

Here's Story Number 26

Whilst Phileas has been in Yemen, he has made friends with a kind old merchant. Phileas has been buying his supplies for the rest of his trip from the man. In order to thank Phileas for his kindness... and for spending his money, the merchant invited Phileas to his family home to enjoy some traditional food. Phileas was delighted by the offer and kindly accepted. 

Phileas met all of the merchants family, which included; his children, his wife, his parents, his cousins and even his goat. He also enjoyed some Saltah which is considered to be the national dish. After a very pleasant evening of music, food and a little bit of alcohol, Phileas decided that it was time to leave. He thanked the merchant and his family for there wonderful hospitality. He opened the door to put on his shoes that had been left outside and to his surprise they were gone. "Why would someone do this?" Said Phileas. "Hahahaha! I can't believe it has happened again!" Laughed the old merchant "what do you mean happened again?" Questioned Phileas. By this point not only was the merchant laughing but his whole family was too, even the goat. "Well Mr Fogg, it must have been Goha who took your shoes." "Goha? Who is this Goha? And where can I find him?" Said Phileas. "Goha is a trickster Mr Fogg, and a famous one at that, there is many stories here in Yemen about him being mischievous. Do you want to hear the story about him and the shoes?" Said the merchant. "Okay, but only if you can find my shoes." So Phileas went back into the Merchants house, sat down with the family and the goat whilst the Merchant told the story of Goha and the shoes.... 

Goha's friends decided to play a trick on him. They knocked on his door, pretending he had invited them over for lunch. Goha was embarrassed because he could not remember inviting them round for lunch and had not prepared for the visit. However, he said "Welcome friends, welcome." as if they had been expected. After they had left their shoes at the door, Goha escorted them to the parlour. Goha then quickly rushed to his wife to tell her what had happened. "But Goha..." She protested. "There is no food in the house, how could you invite them for lunch." "I didn't invite them!" Goha explained. "Ah..." She mused. "Well they're trying to trick you Goha. Leave them in the parlour, they'll soon get bored and go home." Meanwhile, the friends were still laughing about the trick they had played on Goha, waiting for their lunch to be brought to them. Goha, hearing their laughter, decided to play his own trick. He sneaked to the door, collected all the shoes they had left and hurried off to the market. Once he was there, he sold them all! He then used the money he gained selling the shoes to buy food for the meal. He rushed back home where his wife prepared the meal. Everyone ate very well because they had waited so long and had become very hungry. Once the meal was finished, the time came to say goodbye and thank Goha and his wife for lunch. They went to put their shoes on, but no one could find them. "Where are our shoes?" they shouted. "You're shoes," Goha answered calmly, "are now in your stomachs!"

Phileas thought this story was hilarious. "I haven't laughed like that in ages, thank you very much." The story made Phileas feel better about having his shoes stolen and he decided that a lot worse could happen to him and he should be grateful for the things he does have and for the friends he has made. With a smile on his face he left the merchants house, and again he waved goodbye to everyone, opened the door and again to his surprise there they were, his shoes outside the house. "I guess Goha changed his mind" said Phileas. 

Here's Story Number 27

Phileas is getting himself ready to leave Yemen and move onto Mumbai, India. But once Phileas had everything ready and packed he realised he was missing one thing...transport.

What is Phileas going to do?

He made his way to town to see if he could find anything or anyone that could help transport him to India, but he couldn't find anything anywhere to help him. Phileas was now rather tired and sat down on a rug that was just laying on the floor in the street. The rug was a beautiful ruby red with shining gold patterns all over, and was the softest and most comfortable rug Phileas has ever sat on. It was so comfy Phileas forgot all about searching for transport and instead started to fall asleep.

But before Phileas could relax into a deep sleep a great rich booming voice said "excuse me"

Phileas jumped up from the floor in shock and searched high and low but could not see anyone anywhere who could have spoken to him. So Phileas sat back down and was just about to close his eyes to have a nap when he heard the same voice again say "excuse me, sir!"

"Who is that" replied Phileas worriedly

"It's me" the voice replied

"Whose me?" said a confused Phileas

"Me, down here!"

Phileas looked down at his feet "all I can see is a rug, where are you hiding"

The voice began to laugh "Haha! silly man, I am not hiding, I am the rug!"

Phileas jumped up with shock as he has never seen or met a talking rug before.

"Why so scared said the rug, I will not harm you!"

"Sorry" replied Phileas, "I just did not expect a rug to be talking to me"

"Not many people do" replied the rug "What's your name?"

"Phileas, and yours?"

"Pleased to meet you Phileas, I am Rupert"

"Hi Rupert, would you mind if I ask you a question?" said Phileas shyly

"Of course you can"

"Why have you been laid out in the street?"

"Laid out?" Rupert started to laugh again "I wasn't laid out, I laid here myself as I was tired from searching"

"Really so was I! But if you don't mind me asking how did you lay yourself out?"

"What do you mean?" asked Rupert

"Well you are a rug, how are you able to move yourself?"

"Oh" Chuckled Rupert as he lifted himself off the floor

"Y -Y- You can fly!" said Phileas in complete shock.

"Of course I can fly, you act as if you have never seen a rug talk or fly before" said Rupert

"I - I haven't" replied Phileas

"Oh really? Well I am pleased I could be your first" chuckled Rupert, "so please tell me, what were you searching for when you rest on me?"

"I was searching for someone to help me transport myself to Mumbai in India. What were you searching for?"

"I was searching for one of my tassels, as you can see I lost it...I tell you what if you help me to find my golden tassel, I will personally transport you to Mumbai"

"Really would you do that for me?" replied a happy Phileas

"Of course I would" said Rupert.

So Phileas began to help Rupert search high and low for his golden tassel. They searched under the bushes, round the trees, at the end of all the branches, under every mat, they knocked on every door. Phileas and Rupert had been searching for hours and started to become very tired, but then suddenly Phileas saw a glisten across the path from him. 

"Could it be the tassel?" thought Phileas, "surely it can't be as it's moving slowly further and further away"

Phileas had to go and have a better look to see what it could actually be. But to Phileas and Rupert's surprise it was in fact the tassel, and the reason it was slowly moving was because it was in fact on the back of a snail.

"Excuse me" said Phileas to the snail

The snail turned around and looked at Phileas and Rupert "Please call me Mr Smudge, how may I help you both?"

"You seem to have one of my golden tassels on your back, could I have it back please" answered Rupert politely

"Oh I do apologise" said Mr Smudge "I wondered why my shell felt heavier today"

Mr Smudge and Phileas helped Rupert put the tassel back on, and both Phileas and Rupert waved goodbye to Mr Smudge and wished him a wonderful day!

"Thank you Phileas" said Rupert

And as Rupert promised he gave Phileas a ride all the way to Mumbai, India. It was one of the most enjoyable journeys he had ever had and as Phileas and Rupert waved goodbye to each other, they knew this would not be the last time they saw each other.

Here's Story 28

Whilst Phileaus is in Mubai, he came across this marvelous Folk Tale....and here it is already written up, from a marvelous website called 'World Stories'. This story was written by David Heathfield....Enjoy! 

The Lost Camel

An Indian Folk Tale by David Heathfield

Once, there was a merchant, not a rich merchant. And he had a camel, not a beautiful camel. But he loved that camel. And one day, he came to look for the camel but the camel was not there. The camel was gone. ‘Oh, where is my camel? My camel, where is he? And he looked all around in every direction; he searched high and low, but could he find his camel?

Finally, he saw coming along the path towards him, three strangers. Along the tree-lined path they walked towards him, and when they reached him he stopped the first: ‘Have you seen my camel?’

‘Your camel is blind in one eye.’

‘That is true; my camel is blind in one eye. Where is he?’

But the stranger walked on.

The second traveller now arrived.

‘Have you seen my camel?’

‘Your camel is lame in one leg.’

‘That is so. Where is he, what have you done with him?’

But the traveller went on.

The third stranger now stopped.

‘Have you seen my camel?’

‘Your camel has a short tail.’

‘This is true! What have you done with him?’

But the traveller walked on.

The merchant followed the three travellers as they went along the tree-lined path. ‘Where is my camel? You have stolen my camel! You have stolen him! Thieves! Vagabonds!’

Along the path they went. The path became a wide, tree-lined avenue. And on he went, even more furious than before for they seemed to pay no attention to him.

More and more he berated them, until now they entered into the gardens of the palace of the sultan. There the perfumed gardens, the jasmine, the beautiful flowers. And there appeared the sultan: ‘What is the meaning of all this noise?’

‘These strangers have stolen my camel!’

‘How do you know this?’

‘They know that my camel is blind in one eye! They know my camel is lame in one leg! They know my camel has a short tail!’

‘How do you know this,’ asked the sultan?’

And the first stranger spoke: ‘I know his camel is blind in one eye, for as we came along the tree-lined path and along the tree-lined avenue, the leaves had been torn from the branches of the trees that stood to the right of the path. The trees on the left side had not been touched.’

‘How do you know his camel is lame in one leg?’

‘Following the tracks of the camel,’ said the second stranger, ‘it was clear by the footprints.’

‘How do you know the camel has a short tail?’

‘It is clear his camel has a short tail,’ spoke the third stranger. ‘There were drops of blood along the way. If the camel had a longer tail he would have swept the insects aside that sucked the blood.’

‘It is true,’ said the sultan. ‘Your camel arrived in my gardens but a short time ago.’

And the camel was brought forth. Not a beautiful camel. But the merchant kissed his camel. ‘Oh, my camel. My beautiful camel is returned to me.’

And the sultan turned to the three travellers: ‘You are wise men indeed. Remain here,’ said the sultan, ‘and be my advisors.’

And never before that nor since has any sultan ever received more wisdom and advice than he did from those three.  

THE END 

For EVEN MORE stories, visit http://www.worldstories.org.uk/stories/story/18-the-lost-camel/english   

Here's Story number 29

Yama and Shiva

There was once a great sage who was a devout worshiper of Shiva, and his praises so pleased the god that he offered him a choice of boons; he would give him either a son who was incredibly brilliant and gifted but who would not live long, or a son who would be dull-witted but who would have a long life. The sage chose for his son to be brilliant, and soon he welcomed a son named Markandeya. Markandeya, though destined to die on his sixteenth birthday, still praised Shiva constantly throughout his entire life, and was praying to the god on the very day of his death; Yama's servants were afraid to disturb him while he prayed to the god of destruction, and so they returned to their master and explained that they could not kill him. Yama rose up to the world himself to collect the boy's soul, but as he reached to throw his noose around Markandeya's neck, he stumbled and accidentally threw it about the neck of the statue of Shiva the boy was praying to instead. Incensed by what he perceived as an attack against him, Shiva erupted out of the statue and battled Yama until he slew him. Seeing this, the other gods were distraught, for no more men or beasts on the earth could die and soon chaos reigned. They begged Shiva to forget his rage and bring Yama back to life, which he eventually agreed to; his anger appeased, he resurrected the death god but made him promise not to take the devout boy to the realm of the dead, granting Markandeya eternal life for his devoted service.

(The Video is Taken from Worlds Apart - Red Thread. Performed by 3rd year BA World Performance, East 15 Acting School. Choreographed by Amber Tuke and Hannah Baird. Dancers: Hannah Baird, George Boundy, Josephine Papworth, Dannie Pye, Alice Osmanski, Katie O'Connor. Storyteller: Tanya Dunford)

Here's Number 30

Phileas decided that today would be a good day to meet new people. So Phileas set off into the streets of Mumbai to find people to tell. He arrived into the centre of Mumbai and found a big group of people and began to make a load of new friends. Phileas also began to tell everyone about his adventures, but as soon as one of the new people he had met started to talk of even greater adventures Phileas began to get a little jealous, and started to make up some stories about what had happened.

Everyone was amazed with these stories coming from Phileas apart from a wise old man at the back of the group. Phileas was telling all sorts of stories until it began to go dark, and everyone decided that this was the best time to go to bed. 

Once everyone had left the wise old man approached Phileas and warned him about telling lies, and even began to tell an Indian folk story himself about a boy who told lies.

Be Truthful

"There once lived a small boy called Pukhraj who was the son of a farmer. The one trouble with Pukhraj was that he often told lies to his family and to his friends. He would tell stories of monsters in the jungle, or he would pretend that there were deadly snakes in the fields, or that he was too sick to work when he was really not sick at all.

It was the young boy’s job to take his father’s cattle out grazing each morning in a clearing in the jungle on the edge of a nearby hillside. Pukhraj did not enjoy this job very much because he found the cattle very boring and often wished that his life was filled with more fun and adventure. But instead of fun and adventure, Pukhraj found himself doing the same boring jobs each and every day and this made the young boy very resentful. And it was this resentment which often caused naughty Pukhraj to invent stories that were not true.

One day, when the young boy was especially bored with looking after the cattle in the clearing, he decided to have a joke with the people of the village. ‘I shall pretend that I am being attacked by a lion,’ thought Pukhraj. And all of a sudden the young boy began to scream as loud as he could... ‘Help me, help me!’ he cried, ‘I am being attacked by a fierce lion!’

At once, the brave villagers all rushed up the hillside towards the clearing so that they could save young Pukhraj from the lion. But when they arrived in the clearing there was no lion at all, just the young boy rolling around on the ground, laughing to himself at what a joke he had made.

The villagers were very disappointed in Pukhraj and warned him that such jokes were not sensible. But the naughty boy was too busy laughing to pay any notice to such warnings.

A little time passed and life returned to its normal routine: Pukhraj took care of the cattle each morning by taking them out to graze in the jungle, and each evening he would return the cattle to his father’s field before dinner. But young Pukhraj was still restless, still resentful of his boring life of work and routine. And so, one quiet morning, he decided to play the same trick on the villagers.

Once he had reached the clearing in the jungle, once he was sure the timing was just perfect, he began to scream as loud as he could... ‘Help me, help me!’ cried the naughty boy, ‘I am being attacked by a fierce lion! Please come and save me!’

The men and women working in the fields at the edge of the village all ran up the hillside towards the clearing in order to save the cattle and the young boy from the fierce lion. But when they reached the clearing, there was no lion at all. Once again Pukhraj was found rolling around on the ground in fits of laughter. ‘You all look so funny!’ cried the naughty boy. ‘There is no lion; I was only joking with you, hee hee!’

The villagers were very angry with Pukhraj, and his father was forced to apologise for his son’s terrible behaviour because many of the people believed that Pukhraj should be punished for his actions.

‘You must not tell such lies,’ his father warned. But the young boy was too busy laughing to pay any attention to his poor father.

On the following morning, as Pukhraj was resting in the shade of a tall tree watching the cattle grazing in the clearing, he heard a gentle rustling of leaves behind him. When the young boy turned to see what was making such a noise, he came face to face with a huge lion. The lion had big claws and menacing eyes and very sharp teeth! Pukhraj jumped to his feet as quickly as he could and tried to run from the jungle towards the village, but the lion quickly blocked his escape. ‘Help me, help me!’ screamed the young boy as loud as he could, ‘I am being attacked by a fierce lion!’

But when the villagers heard the young boy’s cries for help, they did not rush up the hillside towards the clearing... not this time. Instead, they returned to their work in the fields as if nothing had happened.

And so poor Pukhraj was killed by the lion that day because none of the villagers believed the naughty boy was telling the truth. He had told too many lies and laughed at the villagers too many times, and so they did not believe him when he cried out for help. That is what happens if you tell lies."

And from that day forward Phileas swore never to tell a lie again!

Story Written by San Kalp Pandy. Find more exciting stories from around the world at www.worldstories.org.uk